Importance of understanding the term entrepreneur to become a successful manager

Meaning and definition of entrepreneur:

The term entrepreneur is derived from the French word entreprendre which means to undertake, i.e. the person who undertake the risk of new enterprise. The word entrepreneur is French and, literally translated, means between-taker or go-between.

Earliest Period:
An early example of the earliest definition of an entrepreneur as a go-between is Marco Polo, who attempted to establish trade routes to the Far East. As a gobetween, Marco Polo would sign a contract with a money person (todays venture capitalist) to sell his goods. A common contract during this time provided a loan to the merchant-adventurer at a 22.5 percent rate, including insurance. Profits were divided with the capitalist taking most of them (up to 75%), while the merchantadventurer settled for the remaining 25 percent.

Middle Ages:
In the middle ages, the term entrepreneur was used to describe both an actor and a person who managed large production projects. In such large production projects, this individual did not take any risks, but merely managed the project using the resources provided, usually by the government of the country. A typical entrepreneur in the middle ages was the cleric the person in charge of great architectural works, such as castles and fortification, public buildings, abbeys, and cathedrals.

17th Century:
The reemergent connection of risk with entrepreneurship developed in the 17th century, with an entrepreneur being a person who entered into a contractual arrangement with the government to perform a service or to supply stipulated products. Since the contract price was fixed, any resulting profits or losses were the entrepreneurs.

18th Century:
In the 18th century the person with capital was differentiated from the one who needed capital. In other words the entrepreneur was distinguished from the capital provider (todays venture capitalist).one reason for this differentiation was the industrialization occurring throughout the world. Many of the invention dev eloped during this time were reactions to the changing world, as was the case with the inventions of Eli Whitney and Thomas Edison.

19th and 20th Century:

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, entrepreneurs were frequently not distinguished from managers and were viewed mostly from an economics perspective. The entrepreneur organizes and operates an enterprise for personal gain. He pays current prices for the material consumed in the business, for the use of the land, for the personal services he employs, and for the capital he requires. He also assumes the chance of loss and gain consequent to unforeseen and uncontrollable circumstances. The net residue of the annual receipts of the enterprise after all costs have been paid, he retains for himself.

Definition of Entrepreneur Today:

In almost all of the definitions of entrepreneurship, there is agreement that we are talking about a kind of behavior that includes: (1) initiative taking, (2) the organizing and reorganizing of social and economic mechanism to turn resources and situation to practical account, (3) the acceptance of risk or failure.

To an Economist, an entrepreneur is one who brings resources, labor, materials,

and other assets into combination that makes their value greater than before, and also one who introduces changes, innovation, and a new order.

To Psychologist, such as person is typically driven by certain forces the need

to obtain or attain something, to experiment, to accomplish, or perhaps to escape the authority of others.

To one Businessman, an entrepreneur appears as a threats, an aggressive

competitor, whereas to another businessman the same entrepreneur may be an ally, a source of supply, a customer, or someone who creates wealth for others, as well as finds better ways to utilize resources, reduce waste, and produce jobs other are glad to get.

Successful Entrepreneur

 Initiates Creation Process Devotes Time/Effort Assumes Risk Receives Rewards Independence Satisfaction Money

What is Management? Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively. Management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading or directing, and controlling an organization (a group of one or more people or entities) or effort for the purpose of accomplishing a goal. Resources encompass the deployment and manipulation of human resources, financial resources, technological resources and natural resources.

Definition of Manager: A Manager is the person responsible for planning and directing the work of a group of individuals, monitoring their work, and taking corrective action when necessary. For many people, this is their first step into a management career. Managers may direct workers directly or they may direct several supervisors who direct the workers. The manager must be familiar with the work of all the groups he/she supervises, but does not need to be the best in any or all of the areas. It is more important for the manager to know how to manage the workers than to know how to do their work well. A manager may have the power to hire or fire employees or to promote them. In larger companies, a manager may only recommend such action to the next level of management. The manager has the authority to change the work assignments of team members. A manager's title reflects what he/she is responsible for. An Accounting Manager supervises the Accounting function. An Operations Manager is responsible for the operations of the company. The Manager of Design Engineering supervises engineers and support staff engaged in design of a product or service. A Night Manager is responsible for the activities that take place at night. There are many management functions in business and, therefore, many manager titles.

Regardless of title, the manager is responsible for planning, directing, monitoring and controlling the people and their work.

Basic functions Management operates through various functions, often classified as planning, organizing, staffing, leading/directing, controlling/monitoring and motivation.

Planning: Deciding what needs to happen in the future (today, next week, next month, next year, over the next five years, etc.) and generating plans for action. Organizing: (Implementation)pattern of relationships among workers, making optimum use of the resources required to enable the successful carrying out of plans. Staffing: Job analysis, recruitment and hiring for appropriate jobs. Leading/directing: Determining what needs to be done in a situation and getting people to do it. Controlling/monitoring: Checking progress against plans. Motivation: Motivation is also a kind of basic function of management, because without motivation, employees cannot work effectively. If motivation does not take place in an organization, then employees may not contribute to the other functions (which are usually set by top-level management).

Meaning of Intrapreneurship:
Intrapreneurship is the term used to describe entrepreneurial behavior inside established small or large organization. Intrapreneurs must have freedom of action to explore and implement ideas, although the outcome of such work will be owned by the organization rather than the Intrapreneurs, and it is the organization that will take the associated risk. Manager of organization in which Intrapreneurs are allowed to operate subscribe to the view that innovation can be achieved by encouraging creative and exploratory activity in semi-autonomous units. Thus we can say that manager is a Intrapreneur working in a existing organization.